A portage path is a noble torture…
Noble, because it shows our ability to search beyond our sight and knowledge for new vistas:
Torture, because it means hauling a bunch of stuff that YOU choose along that path on YOUR back.
I encountered this phrase on a honeymoon journey along the North Shore of Lake Superior with Natty B, in a book by James West Davidson and John Rugge, The Complete Wilderness Paddler. The portages were literal, ill-defined and with no clear sight of the other end. They entered the story as a guide to efficiency of effort. Hauling your gear is okay the first time you traverse the trail (because it’s the first time) and okay with the last load (because it IS the last) but any trip in between is pure drudgery. Knowing your load is heading somewhere new is the point and the reward in one go.
If more gear gets added to your loadout, it quickly becomes less efficient and more onerous. That’s an irritant if someone puts their needs above efficiency. More gear equals more trips equals aching backs. Intolerable is what it becomes when I do it to myself!
The current portage trail is one of my own choosing and pack loading. Over the last 12 months EphemerADK has been lifted from pandemic pipe dream to actual business (we have certificates, a Tax ID and everything) and as a two-voyageur shop that means a whole lot of miles, back and forth along trails that became well-trodden because they had to be. All of that work did impinge on my primary goals. I was spending less time than I thought was right out-of-doors, and the battle to grow our presence in a time of dearth led to blog-killing stressors, the keys to the whole dream. Gina B and Natty B are helping me to focus up by reminding me of what we’ve accomplished, and it’s been a heck of a year.
Face time is back on the menu, and dozens of hikers and paddlers glowed me up (is that right?), but astronomy became the ultimate driver of interactions. We set up scopes for people. We were “the voice in the darkness” for hundreds of first-time observers. We helped thousands do something their mothers told them not to do. (Stare Directly Into The Sun) (SAFELY, of course) Phew! Libraries, vineyards, state park systems, bed-and-breakfasters, a couple honeymooners and municipalities. Writing this now, I cannot figure how all this seemed not sustainable, and certainly when I thought I couldn’t carry another damned load, my crew showed me efficient ways to carry forward.
Two Person Shop? More like two dozen. Maybe two hundred? My first goal for this company was a voyageur canoe to do lake tours with. I put a pin in that because I didn’t think I’d have a big enough crew. Now maybe I need two. At least I won’t have to portage it myself.
Come join us this year. You won’t have to carry anything you can’t manage. We head for new vistas!
January 16, 2025
